I've never had a chance to watch parrots out in the wild, but I believe not pooping in the middle of the night cause it's where they roost or its near their nest is bull. I don't think they go to the bathroom often at night simply because they are sleeping! Nothing more. However, if startled or woken up in the middle of the night, they *will* go to the bathroom.
What makes more sense, at least to me, is for the birds to go to the bathroom prior to taking off, as it gets rid of that "extra weight". A bird who has just woken up and will fly off to forage for food will then probably take a nice big crap near where they were sleeping, if not in the exact same spot!
Anyone have the money to take a trip to go and visit some wild flocks so we can see just what does happen????
Zephyr, I don't believe that parrots need 12 hours of sleep year round... I prefer for my birds to follow the natural light/day, so they may get 8-14 hours of sleep. (obviously, this can't be done in all areas, especially where days or nights are extremely long - i.e. Alaska, for example) Don't know if it makes a difference, but I am over 500 miles north (east-ish) of you. I'm just mentioning this because if someone told you that your bird must get 12 hrs of sleep per night, it's probably false.
If your bird *needs* 12 hours of sleep, that's one thing... but if he/she doesn't need it, then your bird may be fine getting 8-9 hrs (typical sleeping hours of humans), and if he needs a nap, or several, during the day, he can rest for a bit! Birds are very adaptable beings!